Israeli strikes have taken direct aim at the backbone of its enemy’s military power: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But the attacks are also increasing the chance of a change in leadership that would concentrate power in the hands of the elite military force,

Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi was appointed to lead the group after his predecessor, Gen. Hossein Salami, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is at the centre of the war between Iran and Israel, leading the clerical establishment's retaliation to Israel's military campaign despite the loss of many of their top commanders in Israeli attacks since Friday.